Components can be releasably mounted to a foundation member by supporting the component on a component support and releasably attaching the component support to a mounting bracket which is fixed to the foundation member. One such use for such mounting assemblies is to mount components in an engine compartment of a vehicle. In a typical engine compartment, the mounting bracket can be attached to the inner surface of the engine compartment or to a part fixed in the engine compartment. The component support, which supports the component, can then be releasably mounted to the mounting bracket. One advantage of such releasable mounting in an engine compartment is that it permits removal of the component for servicing or replacement.
Engine compartments can be quite crowded. This can be due to the vehicle itself being rather small and to the engine compartment containing many accessories in addition to the engine. Releasably mounting a component to a mounting bracket which is fixed in a crowded engine compartment can be difficult for a number of reasons. First, the component can have a number of releasable fasteners distributed around its outer surface which must be releasably attached to the mounting bracket. If the engine compartment is crowded, then accessibility to at least some of the fasteners can be limited making connection of the fasteners to the mounting bracket difficult. Secondly, it can be necessary to manipulate the component adjacent to the mounting bracket in order to attach it to the mounting bracket. If the engine compartment is crowded, it may be difficult to perform the manipulations required to attach the component to the mounting bracket.
Thirdly, it is important that each attachment point on the component correctly mate with the corresponding attachment point on the mounting bracket. This is especially important in a crowded engine compartment since there is little room therein to make adjustments to the locations of the attachment points on the mounting bracket and component in the event that they are not properly aligned with respect to one another. This can make manufacture of the mounting bracket and component difficult since low tolerances in the locations of the attachment points on the mounting bracket and component can be small. Additionally, even if the attachment points on the component and on the mounting bracket are correctly located during manufacture, it can be difficult to maintain their correct locations in a crowded engine compartment since during such installation in and removal from the engine compartment, as well as during vehicle operation, the component and mounting bracket can inadvertently strike other components or each other.